Two-way stretch fabric



Feb- 3, l953 H. HlRscl-i 2,627,173

TWO-WAY STRETCH FABRIC Filed Feb, 26, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l A 7' TORNE Y Feb. 3, 1953 Filed Feb. 2e, 1948 Feb. 3, 1953 H. HlRscH Two-WAY STRETCH FABRIC 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26, 1948 JNVENTOR. HARRY H/RSCH mi. @mw-WA Patented Feb. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TWO-WAY ASTRETCH FABRIC Harry Hirsch, New York, N. Y.

Application February 26, 1948, Serial No. 11,126

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a two way stretch fabric of the kind that is used to manufacture girdles and more particularly to such a fabric in which the elasticity is provided by knitting therein an uncovered rubber thread and the method of manufacturing such fabric.

Heretofore, in the art, attempts have been `made to knit an uncovered rubber thread in the fabric, which uncovered thread is plated by knitting it in the same course with an inelastic thread formed from cotton, rayon or silk, etc., or any combination of inelastic thread.

The fabrics of this kind heretofore made have not been totally satisfactory because, by reason of the arrangement of stitches and the method of manufacture, these Vfabrics have not been sufficiently strong nor has the uncovered elastic thread been adequately strengthened in the fabric or so plated that it is fully covered from view. Further, the method of plating the uncovered elastic thread has to some extent interfered Vwith the elasticity ofthe resulting fabric.

Ihe present invention therefore contemplates the provision of an elastic fabric made by knitting uncovered elastic thread as single courses, which because of its relative arrangement with the stitches of inelastic thread in the fabric, is properly knitted from View but yet is stronger than any of the heretofore manufactured elastic fabrics of this kind 'although a comparatively greater stretch is also obtained.

The present invention still further contemplates a method of knitting by means of which uncovered elastic thread is knitted into the fabric to form a two way stretch material that is relatively strong of comparatively greater stretching characteristics and in which the uncovered elastic thread is adequately hidden from view although it is not strictly plated with an inelastic thread or threads in the sense that the term plating is used in the prior art, namely knitting two threads in the same course, the plating thread knitted with less tension than the plated thread.

To enable those skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features of my invention so that they may embody the same in various modifications in the arrangement of the fabric and the method of producing it within the spirit and scope of the invention, I have herein shown and described an embodiment thereof in which a conventional knitting machine, such as the Well known circular independently operated needle knitting machine, has been modified and adapted so that there can be produced therewith by the method described a tubular blank of two 2 Way stretching material having uncovered rub ber thread satisfactorily knitted with inelastic thread so that the uncovered elastic thread is not seen and which fabric is comparatively strong and yet is provided with relatively great stretching qualities.

It will therefore be understood that I :shall herein describe and illustrate only somuch of a conventional circular Vknitting machine as is necessary to explain the basic operations of my method and interrelationship of the mechanism which will produce the contemplated cloth or fabric by the method of knitting here concerned.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following description and the drawings relating thereto, in which Fig. l is a schematic plan view of a knitting machine used in the practice of my invention, showing only one series of successive thread feeding stations and partially broken away to show the dial needle stitch cams of the similar series of successive thread feeding stations.

Fig. 2 is a schematic elevation of the cylinder needle stitch cam for the series of four thread feeding stations of a circular knitting machine for knitting the fabric of my invention, the first station of the following similar series being partially shown in broken lines.

Fig. 3 is a vsection on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, showing the relative positions of the dial and cylinder needles, the latches of both needles being open.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1 showing the split or half station of the first thread feeding station of the series of stations and at which station a course of uncovered inelastic thread is fed to one set of the dial or cylinder needles and a course of inelastic thread is fed to the other set of the cylinder or dial needles.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on the line 5--5 of Fig. l showing one of the remaining full stations at which a course of thread is fed to both the dial and cylinder needles.

Fig. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the stitch formation of the cloth knitted according to my invention, the cloth being stretched for purposes of illustration.

Referring now to the drawings, I have there illustrated a conventional circular knitting machine in which the cylinder needles I0 are mounted in suitable slots I2 of the stationary cylinder bed I4 and are operated, as Win be dscribed by the cams i6 of the rotating cam ring I8.

The knitting machine is provided with the inter-related set of dial needles 2t, which are mounted in suitable slots 2l of the stationary dial bed 22 and are operated by the cams 24 of the dial cam ring 25.

The operation of the rotating cam stitch rings is conventional, the needle butts and 2l lying in the cam grooves 29 and 3| and therefore need not be further described, it being understood that the needles are reciprocated to take on thread by means of the hooks 28 and 30, the latches 32 and 34 of which are opened and closed by the action of the thread when it is looped through a preceding course and cast off from the needle which is moved to position to take on the succeed ing course.

In describing my invention, I apply it to a circular knitting machine having both cylinder and dial needles and in which the needle beds are stationary, the stitch forming action of the needles being performed by the action of rotating stitch cams though it will be understood that any type of knitting machine having two interrelated sets of needles may be used.

As I shall describe with reference to the cloth or fabric illustrated in Fig. 6, the circular knitting machine utilized in the practice of my invention is preferably provided with two sets of four successive thread feeding stations, which in the figures I refer to as station I and station IA, station 2, station 3 and station Il for one set and station I', IA, 2', 3 and d.' for the other set.

In describing my invention, I arbitrarily consider each of station I and station IA, a split or half station, the two in combination forming a full or complete station, because as Will be seen, a thread is fed as a course at station I to one set of needles, here the dial needles, and at station IA a different thread is fed as a course to the other set of needles.

At all the other stations, namely station 2, station 3 and station fi, the thread is fed as the same course to both dial and cylinder needles and therefore I arbitrarily designate them as full or complete stations.

Therefore it will now be understood that the threads fed at station IA and station I are not interknit since the cylinder and dial needles operate on independent courses of thread Whereas the thread fed at each other station is interknit since both the dial and cylinder needles operate on the same course of thread.

To put it another Way, at the split or half stations (station I and IA), the front face of the fabric knit by the cylinder needles is not secured to the back face of the fabric which is knit by the dial needles.

At the remaining three stations, the front and back faces of the fabric are knitted together since the same course of thread is acted upon by both the cylinder and dial needles.

Throughout the specification, I shall mean when I refer to a half course a thread or threads that is fed to either station I and IA, that is a course which is not interknit but are formed on either the dial needles or the cylinder needles. Thus, course la and course I shall each be referred to by me as a half course.

All other courses of thread, namely, 2, 3 and 4 are referred to by me herein as full courses or just courses,7 since they are interknit by forming their loops by both the dial and cylinder needles at a full station, such as 2, 3 and 5I..

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4, a course of inelastic thread 36 is fed at station IA to the cylinder needles III and forms the front face of the fabric. Of course while I have illustrated only one thread being fed to the cylinder needles at station IA, it will be understood that two or more threads, such as cotton and cotton and cotton or cotton and rayon or cotton and silk, etc., may form the single course fed at this station to the cylinder needles.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the first half course, course Ia comprising regular stitches 38 in the wales 4U, d2, lll?- and 46, formed by the cylinder needles, which are connected by threads t8 laid in the Wales 5U, 52 and 5A, which latter are the dial needles Wales.

In order to feed the thread 36 to the cylinder needles, as is conventional, a ybracket 55 is secured to the plate 58 mounted on the dial cam ring, which bracket carries the spring controlled bobbin 66, which places the desired tension on the thread 35, fed from a spool thereof (not shown) through the openings 52 and @4 in the plate 66 and leg 68 of the bracket 56.

The thread guide 10, through the opening I2 in which the thread 36 is fed to the cylinder needles, is carried by the bracket 'I4 mounted on the plate 58.

A course I5 of elastic thread, preferably uncovered, and known in the art as naked yarn or raw yarn, is fed to the dial needles 29 at staion I. Since the naked or raw yarn is fed to one of the half stations under the nomenclature used by me, it will be referred to as a half course. In Fig. 6, the elastic thread is illustrated as dark and in the figures of the drawings, for convenience in illustration, this course is shown as comprising only a single thread. In order, however, to strengthen the fabric and the uncovered elastic thread, I preferably feed to the dial needles 20, a course comprising both elastic thread and cotton thread, etc. Thus, should the uncovered elastic thread, which is weaker than a covered elastic thread, break, the fabric would not necessarily unravel because of the strengthening inelastic thread backing.

In order to permit the elastic thread to be fed uniformly and evenly through the opening 'I8 in the guide 8B, mounted on the bracket 56, to the dial needles 20, I mount on the plate 58 the pair of ball bearing rollers 32 and 84. Since these rollers are conventional and rotate freely as the thread is fed to the needles 2G, the details of construction and mounting in the knitting machine need not be shown.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it Will be seen that the half course I comprises regular stitches 38 of elastic thread in the wales 50, 52 and 54, formed by the dial needles, which are connected by laid in threads 48 0f elastic yarn and which laid in threads appear in the cylinder wales 40, 42, lid and 46.

The second half course la is formed on the cylinder needles and comprises regular stitches 38 of inelastic thread in the Wales d, 112, 4d and 46, which are connected by laid in threads 28, which laid in threads appear in the Wales 5D, 52 and 54.

It Will now be seen that by thus using half stations, the front of the fabric is formed by the cylinder needles from an inelastic thread that is unconnected with the back of the fabric formed by dial needles.

It will of course be understood that covered elastic thread may replace the uncovered elastic thread and that the thread fed at stations IA and I may, if desired, be reversed, that is elastic aeamws.

thread fed at station IA and :thus form course Ia `and inelastic yarn fed at station I and thus form course I.

It will of course be understood that `at station IA, the dial needles do not take on thread, as indicated by the cam groove formation at 86 (see Fig. l) the outer reciprocating position of these needles being shortened as indicated by the broken lines of Fig. l at `Ill! and at station I, the cylinder needles do not take on thread as indicated by the cam groove formation at 90 (see Fig. 2).

This combination of knitting elastic vthread by one set of needles (here, the dial needles) and inelastic thread by the other set of `needles (in the example, the cylinder needles) `give to the fabric the greater stretching characteristics in both directions, that is longitudinally and laterally, which is obtained with the fabric of my invention.

At station 2, both the cylinder and dial needles take on the inelastic thread, which in Fig. l is illustrated as comprising two threads 9| and 93, though in Fig. 6, only a single thread 2, foi` convenience in illustration is shown.

In order to feed the thread to the cylinder and dial needles, the bracket 95 is mounted on the plate 58. The bracket 95 carries the tensioned bobbin 92 to which the `threads 9| and 93 are fed through the openings 94 and 96 in the f plate 98 carried by the bracket 95.

From the bobbin 92, through the openings |60 and |62 in the leg I4 of the bracket 95, the threads 9| and 93 are fed through the openings IQS and |08 of the thread guide Ill, carried by the bracket to the cylinder and dial needles I 0 and 20.

At station 2, th-e elastic thread 16 (course I) is cast off from the dial needles in the wales 56, 52 and 54 and the inelastic thread 36 (course la) is cast off from the cylinder needles in the wales 40, 42, 44 and 46.

Referring to Fig. 6, the second course (course 2) comprises the regular loops 38 in the cylinder needle Wales 40, 42, etc., and the intervening held loops II2 in the dial needle wales 50, 52 etc.

This is accomplished by the dial stitch cams 24, which may be operated automatically from the dial cam ring 26 driving mechanism about the pivots II4 and which movable cams 24 are used to control the knitting off of the stitch.

Thus when the cam 24 is in one position, the needle forms a held loop II2 or a tuck loop Ilii in course 3, to which reference will be made, on the held loops II2.

The thread feeding stations at stations 3 and 4 are the same as at station 2 and therefore the description of the mechanical features of the knitting machine need not be repeated.

In order to evenly fashion the fabric, that is give to it a uniform appearance, although stations 2, 3 and 4 are full stations, the intermediate station, namely, station 3 is arranged so that the dial needles are held in tuck position while the cylinder needles cast off the thread.

Thus, referring to Fig. 6, course 3 comprises regular loops 38 in the cylinder needle wales 4U, 42, 44 and 46, spaced by intervening tuck loops IIB in the dial needle wales 50, 52 and 54.

Movable cams H8 are also provided for the cylinder needles (see Fig. 2) which movable cams are also conventionally automatically driven from the cylinder cam ring driving mechanism.

Station 4 is exactly the same as station 2 and of the elastic thread of the succeeding course I', are somewhat longerV and narrower than the adjacent regular loops 38 in order to accommodate the spacing caused by the half station I.

In Fig. l, I have shown two threads fed into each of stations 2, 3 and 4 although in Fig. 6 I have shown the corresponding courses formed at these stations as comprising a single thread. This it will be understood is for purposes of con venience in illustration.

Upon the completion of course 4, the `knitting operations described are repeated. The knitting machine here described preferably comprises'.

two sets of thread feeding stations, each set formed by two half stations, station I and station IA, and three succeeding full stations., station 2, station 3 and station 4. For convenience, in Fig. l, the succeeding set of stations is numbered station I and station IA', station 2', station 3 and station 4` and in Fig. 6 the corre-` sponding courses of the fabric knitted at these successive stations is similarly referred to by similar reference characters.

Tosum up, the fabric knitted according to my invention and which provides a tubular blank having a two way stretch, from which blank a girdle is made, is knitted on a machine having two sets of needles, such as a set of dial needles and a set of cylinder needles, and the fabric of which blank comprises a series of courses, the rst of which courses comprises two half courses, one of which half courses is knitted by one set' of needles from a preferably inelastic thread to form `the front face of the blank and the other half course of which is knitted by the other set of needles from a preferably elastic thread, either uncovered or covered rubber, to form the back face of the blank, said courses being unconnected in the knitting; a second course of inelastic thread knitted by both sets of needles and cornpricing regular loops spaced by held loops;` a`

third course of inelastic thread knitted by both sets of needles and comprising regular loops spaced by tuck loops, the said tuck loops being formed on the held loops of the preceding course of inelastic thread; and a fourth course of inelastic thread comprising only regular loops.

To rephrase this arrangement, the fabric of my invention comprises wales of regular loops formed from inelastic thread spaced or separated by wales having the following order of stitches: a regular loop of elastic thread, uncovered or covered, a held loop of inelastic thread, a tuck loop of inelastic thread and a regular loop of inelastic thread, the elastic thread being laid in, that is, not knitted, in the wales formed of regular loops and the inelastic thread being laid in in the wales in which the elastic thread is knitted in as regular loops.

It will be further apparent that the increased stretching characteristics of the fabric blank here contemplated is also obtained because in the fabric a course of inelastic thread is independently knitted by one set of needles with a course of elastic thread independently knitted by the other set of needles so that the front face of the fabric, throughout these courses, whether elastic or inelastic is unconnected with the back face of the fabric, whether inelastic or elastic, the two faces of the fabric being otherwise interknitted and preferably formed from inelastic thread.

It will be understood that I do not intend to be limited by the terms used in the description of my invention, such terms being those commonly used in the trade and being interchangeable with each other and wherever terms are used in the claims they are to be used in the sense connoted in the foregoing description.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinset forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Iclaim: y

1. A knitted two way stretch elastic fabric for girdles or similar confining garments having the following order of courses; the rst of which courses comprises a half course knitted from an inelastic thread of regular loops in alternate wales and laid in portions of the thread in the wales between said alternate wales and a second half courseof elastic thread of regula-r loops between the said alternate Wale loops of the inelastic thread and laid in portions of the elastic thread in-the said alternate wales of the elastic thread; a second course comprising a full course of inelastic thread having regular loops in the said alternate Wales of the said first half course of inelastic thread and held loops in the wales in which the said portions of the said rst half course of inelastic thread are laid in; a third course comprising a full course of inelastic thread having regular loops in the said alternate wales and tuck loops on theu said held loops; and a fourth course of inelastic thread of regular loops in all the wales of the fabric.

2. The fabric of claim 1, said half course of elastic thread formed from an uncovered elastic yarn.

3. In a knitted elastic fabric for a girdle or other confining garment, an inelastic thread knitted in alternate wales of the fabric and an elastic thread knitted in the other wales of the fabric, a course of inelastic thread having regu;

lar loops in the said alternate wales and held loops in the other wales of the fabric; a course of inelastic thread having regular loops in the said alternate wales and tuck loops on the held loops; and a course of inelastic thread having regular loops in al1 of the wales of the fabric.

4. The fabric of claim 3, said elastic thread being uncovered.

5. In a knitted elastic fabric for a girdle or similar confining garment having alternate wales of inelastic regular loops in which alternate wales portions of elastic thread are laid in and which alternate wales are spaced by wales having .the following order of threads: a laid in portion of inelastic thread, a regular loop of elastic thread, a held loop of inelastic thread, a tuck loop of inelastic thread, and a regular loop of inelastic thread.

6. The fabric of claim 5, the elastic thread being formed from an uncovered rubber yarn.

HARRY HIRSCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,907,185 Levin May 2, 1933 2,016,168 Clark Oct. 1, 1935 2,050,535 Martel Aug. l1, 1936 2,131,720 St. Pierre Sept. 27, 1938 2,238,353 Weintraub et al. Apr. 15, 1941 2,246,079 St. Pierre June 17, 1941 2,250,359 Clark July 22, 1941 2,254,131 Anton Aug. 26, 1941 2,313,446 Lawson Mar. 9, 1943 2,325,078 Shelmire July 27, 1943 2,336,222 Clark Dec. 7, 1943 2,347,005 Smith, Jr Apr. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 399,591 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1933 

